A thread to present some of the issues American Muslims face, with focus on positive initiatives, starting with Education:

Education Boost for US Muslim Students

Assisting a new generation of young American Muslims, an umbrella
group has offered scholarships to provide students with more
opportunities for a better education and future.

"I would like to
sincerely thank Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the donors
to this scholarship,” Mohsin Mirza, one of the Muslim recipients of the
scholarships, said in a statement obtained by OnIslam.net.

Muslim Healthcare for All Americans

Crowning a story of success that started seven years ago, Muslim
doctors in the south-eastern US state of Tennessee are offering free
health services for poor and uninsured Americans in line with the tenets
of Islam.

"We are based in the Muslim community, but our outreach
is to the community at large," Dr. Muhammad Zaman, a co-founder and
board member of the Memphis Muslim Medical Clinic, told The Commercial Appeal.

With
a slogan reading "Healthcare for All," Muslim doctors at the
three-bedroom clinic offer free medical help to uninsured and
underprivileged Americans.

Converting bedrooms into exam rooms, volunteered doctors worked to
solicit old or unwanted office furniture from the Memphis medical
community.

They also knocked on more than 200 doors in the
neighborhood to introduce themselves, invite new patients and foster a
sense of community spirit.

The Muslim clinic has started operations seven years ago to serve patients of all ages, races and religions...

ISNA Welcomes Pope Francis and Congratulates the Catholic Community

(Washington,
DC -- March 15, 2013) The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA)
congratulates the global Catholic community on the selection of Pope
Francis as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

ISNA
President Imam Mohamed Magid extended a letter of congratulations to
Pope Francis today. "We are delighted that you have chosen to be
referred to by the same name as [St. Francis,] such a warmhearted and
courageous saint," he said. "We are confident that you will build on
this legacy by advancing Muslim-Catholic dialogue in today’s world."

Michigan Growing Muslim Girl Scouts

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A growing number of young Muslim girls are joining
Girl Scout troops in southeast Michigan, forming new friendships based
on faith and aspiring for taking new leadership roles when they get
older.

“We want them to be strong and take on leadership roles in
the future,” Rana Alaouie, who’s a volunteer and has two daughters in
the group, told Arab American News on Thursday, March 21.

Offering girls role models, the group volunteers teach them to face bullying with love.

“We teach them that bullying is wrong and Islam teaches us to love one another,” she said.

Considered
as the biggest Muslim scout group in the US, the Muslim Girl Scouts
troop of southeast Michigan has about 250 members.

Through the group the girls are embracing American culture and their faith.

Its members reside in different cities in the region, and meet once a week

Almost all big Islamic centers or mosques in the United States organize scouting troops for their local communities.

In
All Dulles Area Muslim Society Scout (ADAMS), one of the largest
American Muslim organizations in US, there are more than 200 scouts;
boys and girls.

According to the Boy Scouts of America, Muslim scout troops have been increasing over the past two years.

It says about 2,000 scouts are enrolled in some 112 troops through Islamic schools and mosques.

For Muslim girl scouts, their exact number is unknown especially that many of them join predominantly non-Muslim troops.

Friendships

Giving
them better information about faith, the group offered girls better
opportunities to form strong friendships with their colleagues.

“I’ve
been in the group for years, and a lot of us have watched each other
grow up,” Janan Wutwut, who has been a member for years in the Muslim
Girl Scouts troop of southeast Michigan, said.

“It’s more than just a Girl Scout troop.”

Working
for years as a member of southeast Michigan Muslim Girl Scouts, Wutwut
was grateful for the group for offering her better information about
Islam.

Over the past years, she has also managed to make close friendships with her colleagues.

“We’re forming strong friendships and learning a lot about each other,” she said.

“I’ve learned so much about my faith as well.”

“It’s a great experience, when we have our own kids we want them to be in it,” she added.

Hawra Yassine, 21, another volunteer, praised the group because of the opportunities and friendships its members form.

“It’s a wonderful thing to watch these girls mature and grow,” she said...

Muslim Professionals in America

Inviting Muslim professionals to empower each other and advance their
careers, a major Muslim summit will open Saturday, March 23, in the
northern US state of New Jersey to promote active engagement and
encourage dynamic and proactive interaction among Muslims.

“The
summit introduces people to Muslim professionals in diverse career-paths
and provides networking opportunities,” Zainab Chaudary, Communications
Director at the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals
(CAMP), told OnIslam.net in exclusive statements.

CAMP’s 6th annual leadership summit is scheduled to open Saturday in Princeton, New Jersey.

The summit aims to empower Muslim professionals and advance their careers and excel their community and philanthropic efforts.

This year’s CAMP summit aims to leverage the strength of Muslim professionals as a leader.

This
year’s program is designed to help Muslim professionals recognize their
natural talents and provide the knowledge, skills, and practice needed
to galvanize their career.

“The monthly chapter power hours focus
on particular careers, and speakers provide insight into how they broke
into their particular field, providing tips, contacts, and advice to
attendees also interested in pursuing the same field,” Chaudary said,
referring to monthly networking events that feature dynamic speakers
discussing their field of work and career paths to success.

Founded in 1994 in Chicago, CAMP is a Muslim volunteer organization in the United States.

It
aims to empower Muslim professionals and advance and excel, not only in
their careers, but also their broader community and philanthropic
efforts.

CAMP has more than 7,000 mid‐to senior‐level Muslim professionals representing various industries and professions.

It has chapters in Chicago, New Jersey, New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.

Events organize by CAMP aim to provide attendees with training and tools that help them evolve as leaders...

Extending bridges with their colleagues and the wider community,
Muslim students are arranging month-long events to shed light on the
diversity of life and culture in the Muslim world and give a voice to
the Muslim minority in New York.

“The goals of the Shuruq events
are to celebrate Muslim identity and foster understanding amongst people
of all backgrounds and faiths,” Asma Imam, a College of Arts and
Science (CAS) junior and junior chair of Shuruq, told NYU Washington Square News newspaper.

“We are excited to reach out to others beyond the community at Islamic Center at NYU.”...

Harvard Hosts Islam Awareness Month

The Harvard Islamic Society has kicked off its annual awareness
month, hosting a series of events to bring attention to the Muslim
community inside the campus and shed light on the contextualization of
Islam and American culture.

“We want to present this sense that
Islamic values are very much a part of American life,” Hassaan Shahawy
’16, Harvard Islamic Society’s (HIS) Director of Islamic Learning, told
The Harvard Crimson.

“We have events that show that it’s not as dual as we think. It’s not Islam versus the West, Islam versus science.

“The misperception is that the two are at odds with each other,” he added.

Events
of the university’s Islamic Awareness Week kicked off earlier this week
with a talk titled “What Muhammad Stood for,” presented by Lesley
Hazleton, author of The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad and veteran
TED speaker.

Hazleton spoke about Muhammad’s advocacy of social justice and the factors that led to Muhammad’s role as a prophet.

Shahawy described Hazleton as “an agnostic scholar and journalist” who offers a unique perspective on the Middle East.

“We wanted to give a perspective that’s from a very creative source, a very modern person writing about these issues,” he said.

“We
could have invited a traditional Islamic scholar, but we wanted to
present it in a format that Harvard students could receive in a way
that’s understandable to them.”...

Muslim Fraternity March in Dallas Against Domestic Abuse

DALLAS – Seeking to change misconceptions that Islam is a
male-dominant religion, Muslim students at the University of Texas are
championing efforts to show that the Islamic faith endorses women’s
right and bans domestic violence.

“Muslims are always on defense,”
Ali Mahmoud, president of Alif Laam Meem, the founding chapter of the
new Alpha Lambda Mu Fraternity, told ABC News in a phone interview.

“We
usually get called in to explain ourselves and instead we decided to
take the offense and tell people what Islam is instead of what it
isn't.”

Members of the Muslim group have marched in Dallas to highlight that Islamic teachings are against domestic violence.

"Muslims Say No to Domestic Violence" and "Muslims Say Yes to Women's Rights" were among slogans carried by the Muslim marchers.

Mahmoud says that people often have the wrong idea when it comes to Islam and domestic violence.

"We wanted to clarify the misconception that any kind of domestic violence is allowed in our religion," he said.

"And
it may seem apparent through the media that it's allowed, but that's
majorly a cultural phenomenon and not an actual teaching of our
religion."...

Muslim Fraternity

The Muslim march has won positive reactions.

"We're just starting and we're still trying to figure out what it means to be a Muslim fraternity,” Mahmoud said.

The
group posted a photo on their Facebook page about fraternity that has
been liked more than 1,000 times and shared more than 1,500 times.

Pictures
and word of the fraternity have traveled across several websites as
Tumblr, Twitter, Upworthy and the Dallas Morning News...

Zaytuna College & ‘American’ Islam

Mixing the Greeks, the scholastics and the whole Western sciences
with traditional Qur’an and Arabic subjects, America’s first Muslim
college is setting a unique example as a Muslim version of the great
American universities.

“I believe the liberal arts are key to
understanding Islam,” Mussab Abouabdalla, 19-year-old Muslim student who
attends Zaytuna College, told The New York Times on Saturday, April 13...

Zaytuna College, which stems its name from the Arabic word “olive”,
opened doors to first students in its rented space in a Baptist seminary
in Berkeley in August, 2010.

It offers two majors; Arabic language and Islamic law and theology.

The
college, a brainchild of Imam Shakir, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf and Professor
Hatem Bazian, aspires to be America’s first accredited, four-year Muslim
liberal arts college in the United States.

American Muslim

The
unique mix of American and world sciences with Islamic teachings
offered American Muslim students a better opportunity for a more
“American”, less foreign education.

“One of the aims of the
college is to show that you don’t have to leave the country to discover
yourself as a Muslim,” Dr. Mirza said.

NEW JERSEY – Every month, American Muslims are feeding thousands of
hungry and homeless people in the inner-city neighborhoods of New Jersey
and Pennsylvania.

“We see this as a huge need and an opportunity
to reach out and help our brothers and sisters in this community,” Aliza
Haniff, an Administrator at the National Islamic Association Soup
Kitchen Program, told OnIslam.net.

“As Muslims, we thank Allah for this opportunity and, Al-hamdulillaah, we are going into our third year with our soup kitchen.”

The National Islamic Association (NIA), a mosque in Newark, New
Jersey, is one of the Islamic Centers that partner with the American
Muslims for Hunger Relief (AMHR) every month to run a soup kitchen at
its facilities.

AMHR is a grassroots, social relief organization
that coordinates the collection and distribution of food by working in
collaboration with local businesses who donate food items and with local
mosques, Islamic centers, and social service groups who distribute the
food through soup kitchens, food banks and meal-on-wheels programs.

In
March, the organization distributed 1,000 meals in a Saturday morning
blitz to feed the hungry and homeless in New Jersey and Philadelphia...

US Muslims Aid Tornado Victims

WASHINGTON – While Muslim teams have been deployed to help those in
need, US Muslim leaders have appealed to the sizable minority to join
efforts to aid victims of a devastating tornado in Oklahoma that wiped
whole blocks of homes and killed scores.

"Our hearts go out to the
victims' families, and especially to the parents of little children who
lost their young lives in this natural disaster," Imam Mohamed Magid,
President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), told
OnIslam.net.

"We stand by the citizens of Moore in their effort to rebuild their lives." ...

Muslim relief agencies have activated disaster response teams to help in the relief efforts for Oklahoma victims.

Islamic Relief's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is on the ground and helping those devastated by the tragedy.

Islamic
Relief is working closely with the American Red Cross and local
authorities to ensure aid reaches those affected in a timely manner.

Meanwhile,
the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA)’s Relief has also activated
its disaster response team which is set for immediate deployment in the
area...

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